


putting out fires

by orphan_account



Category: Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:27:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After a particularly hard day at work, Kaz is dreading team game night. It doesn't help that Adam's decided to show up and be a model big brother.Future fic featuring family and found family feels.
Relationships: Bree Davenport/Skylar Storm, Chase Davenport/Kaz
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65





	putting out fires

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching a lot of Elite Force lately, and I've really fallen in love with these crazy kids. This fic has everything I wish the show had: emotional depth of some sort, Chase/Kaz, Adam and Davenport sibling bonding, and dealing with Kaz's fucked up past.

In an ideal world, Kaz would get to come home after the kind of day he’s had to a quiet apartment where he can crawl into bed with his boyfriend and cry until he feels better. 

But he’s Kaz, and if something can go wrong in his life, it will (Chase calls it Kaz’s Law), so instead he comes home to mandatory team game night. Ironically, mandatory team game night was his idea, back when they were just starting off as the Elite Force. Over the years, it’s become a tradition in his chosen family, and it’s become more and more important as they’ve disbanded as a team. 

Bree and Skylar still fight crime, but he and Oliver work in the new Daven-hospital, which serves normos, bionic heroes, and superheroes, and Chase runs Davenport Industries, creating new, world changing inventions on the daily. They all still live in the Tower, but they’re not constantly together, and normally Kaz looks forward to game night as a way to catch up. 

Today, however, he’s trying to figure out if there’s a way he can skip it without drawing too much attention. 

“Kaz!” Skylar calls, emerging from the elevator with a bottle of wine. “Why’re you standing outside of your own apartment?”

“Waiting for you,” Kaz says, as smoothly as he’s able, grabbing his keys out of his pocket and unlocking the door. He pushes it open for her, gesturing with a flourish for her to enter before him. “M’lady.”

“Weirdo,” Skylar says affectionately, speeding past him to kiss Bree on the cheek. Kaz can’t do anything but follow her in. It’ll be fine, he decides. He’ll talk to Chase and Chase will get him out of it. Everything is going to be okay--

But something’s wrong with this picture.

It’s not Skylar, who kisses her girlfriend and grabs some plates from the cabinet, then speeds over to lay them out on the table; nor is it Oliver, who’s carefully setting up some new game in the center of the plates. It’s not Chase, who is sauteing something over the stove, nor Bree, who’s cutting up cucumbers on the counter next to him. It’s Adam, big, goofy, lovable Adam, who’s sitting on a stool on the opposite side of the counter, clearly regaling his siblings with the latest gossip from the Bionic Academy. 

“And then Leo threw her--oh, hi Kaz!” All of a sudden, everyone’s eyes are on him. On a normal day, he wouldn’t mind at all. Today, it makes him sort of want to explode. 

“Hi Adam,” he replies, trying to sound as normal as possible, hanging his coat slowly on the hook by the door. “I didn’t know you were coming to game night.”

“I didn’t either,” Adam says cheerfully. “But I missed my sibs, you know?”

Ooph. Adam has a hobby of saying the wrong thing at any given time, but that was sort of the last thing Kaz needed to hear at the moment. 

“Good to see you,” he lies, feeling guilty. He really does like Adam, it’s just that sneaking away will be much harder with the big guy around. 

“Ahem,” Chase coughs, holding his arms open. “Hello, darling.” Kaz smiles, crossing the room to fold himself into Chase’s embrace. With his face pressed into Chase’s neck, breathing in Chase’s signature smell of metal and fabric softener, everything feels alright for a moment.

“Aww,” Adam coos loudly. 

“Shut up,” Chase says, pulling away with a fond smile. He looks so happy to see his brother, happier than he’s been in a few weeks. Kaz can’t ruin this for him. 

“How was your day?” Bree asks, popping a cucumber slice in her mouth as Adam and Chase bicker. 

‘Shitty,’ Kaz wants to say.

“Fine,” he lies. 

“Good,” Bree replies, accepting the answer at face value. “Because dinner’s almost ready, and Adam brought us a new game. It’s supposed to take a long time, so we should get started soon.”

“Goody,” Kaz says, forcing a smile. 

Kaz decides the best plan of action is to get as drunk as possible and avoid Oliver. 

The drinking, he feels, is fairly straight-forward. He needs to unwind, and there are hundreds of movies documenting how alcohol can help people do exactly that. Avoiding Oliver, however, is specific to his situation. Oliver knows him better than anyone, and he’s the only one of the bunch good at picking up on other people’s body language or changes in demeanor. Skylar’s an alien, and the Davenports were raised in a basement by a dork, so none of them are particularly socially adept. Even Chase, who loves him an insane amount, isn’t an expert on reading Kaz; instead trusting his boyfriend to be open and communicative like they’ve both promised to be. 

Whoops. 

Kaz settles himself between Chase and Bree, with Adam on Chase’s other side and Skylar on Bree’s. Oliver’s across from him, and so invested in the rules that he’s not even really paying attention to anything else. Kaz pours himself a glass of red wine and chugs, leaning into Chase’s side and listening to the Davenport siblings’ laughter as they catch up. 

“Chase and I were thinking of going home for Christmas,” Bree tells Adam. “You and Leo should come too! Everyone will be together, it’ll be fun!” Kaz swallows, pouring himself another glass. He and Chase never talked about that; they’ve spent the last few holiday seasons in the apartment with the team. 

“That sounds dope!” Adam says. “But maybe you should come to the island? The weather will be nicer. Chase, you pick.”

“I don’t care,” Chase says. “As long as we’re all together.” Both Adam and Bree chime in their agreement, and something curdles in Kaz’s chest. 

“Can we skip the sibling bonding and get to the game already?” He asks, words coming out louder and ruder than he intended. He finishes his glass and pours another to hide his embarrassment. There’s an awkward pause, but then Oliver--bless him--swoops in to explain the rules. 

“Okay,” Oliver says. “So everyone gets three green cards and four yellow cards to start…” 

They’re finished dinner and half-way through the game, and Kaz is well on his way to being hammered and equally as far along in pissing off every single person in the room. 

It comes to a head when he shoots sparks from his fingers at Adam. (In hindsight, it’s completely fair. Drunk Kaz, however, doesn’t immediately understand why everyone is so upset with him.)

“Kaz!” Chase shouts, pulling away from him completely to check on Adam. Bree runs to Adam’s other side, as Oliver shoots ice across the room to put out the sparks left from his blast. Skylar glares at him. 

“Kaz, what the hell?”

“He was cheating!” Kaz accuses, pointing in Adam’s direction violently. “He’s a cheater!”

“He probably just didn’t understand the rules,” Bree says defensively. She’s got her hand on Adam’s shoulder protectively, as if to remind Kaz that no matter how many years they’ve lived together or how many times they’ve saved each others’ lives, she’ll always pick Adam over him. Because that’s what siblings do. 

Even Chase looks furious, angling his body between Kaz’s and Adam’s, as if to say the same thing. 

Adam’s the only one who looks unphased. 

“It’s alright, bro,” he says, nonchalantly, and the ocean roars in Kaz’s ears. “We’ve all been there.” 

“I am not your bro!” Kaz shouts, and then he lights on fire. It’s not even a conscious decision. It’s just that he’s drunk, and upset, and a little traumatised from all those years fighting, and this is his go-to reaction. 

Oliver shouts and shoots ice in his direction, but Chase stops it with a forcefield. It glows, a blue bubble with just the two of them inside it. 

“Sweetheart--” Chase says, softly, hands still out. “What’s wrong?” It’s his tone that breaks Kaz, so sweet and worried and genuine. He’s not mad, Kaz realises. He’s just concerned. 

“My brother’s dying,” he tells Chase, forgetting to wonder if the others can hear them. His fire sputters out, and he’s left cold and vulnerable, sinking to the floor. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Chase kneels down next to him, pulling him into a hug Kaz knows he doesn’t deserve. He still leans into it, starting to cry, and clutching at Chase like a lifeline. “Kaz, darling, why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“I didn’t want to ruin game night,” he wails, aware the words sound vaguely ridiculous. “Not with Adam here.” 

“Baby,” Chase says softly. “I really really don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but that’s really stupid.” Kaz starts crying harder, and Chase winces. “I didn’t mean it like that, Kaz. I meant that you should never feel the need to hide your feelings, especially not when it’s something big like this. Not from me, not from the team, not from Adam. We love you, Kaz. We all love you.”

“Adam probably doesn’t,” Kaz mumbles, staring down at his fingers, the weapons he used just moments ago against Adam.   
“Course I do, buddy!” Adam shouts. “You’re my little brother-in-law!” 

“You can’t call him that til they’re married,” Bree hisses to Adam, which is something Kaz files away to freak out about later. 

“I’m sorry, you guys,” Kaz says, looking around at everyone. He’s relieved to find everyone looking concerned instead of angry. Chase lets the forcefield disappear, and the others sit down on the floor around him and Chase, Bree and Adam on one side and Skylar and Oliver on the other. 

“Do you want to tell us what’s happening?” Bree asks, softly. “Or do you just want to talk to Chase? We can clear out, if you want.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “I mean, it’s not much of a story. I was working, and I went down to the third floor to get a drink from the good vending machine. And then I ran into two of my siblings, and they didn’t even recognize me. I followed them back to the room they were visiting, and my other brother was there. I snagged his chart from one of the nurses...it’s cancer. My own brother has cancer, and he’s in  _ my _ hospital, and no one even thought to tell me.” Kaz leans further into Chase’s test and bites at his lip to stop more tears.

“That’s so fucked up,” Adam says, breaking the silence. “I’m sorry.” 

“I didn’t say a word to any of them,” Kaz says in a hollow voice. “I was...I was too afraid. Of my own family. I’m pathetic.” 

“You are not pathetic,” Skylar says firmly. 

“You haven’t seen them in years,” Bree reminds him. “None of this is your fault, Kaz. And there’s always tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with you if you want to talk to them,” Oliver offers. “Or I can get them moved to another hospital, if you’d prefer.” Kaz sniffles, sending his best friend a teary smile. 

“I’ll let you know,” he quips, feebly. Anxiously, he looks up at Chase. His boyfriend’s been unusually quiet, and it’s scaring him. Chase’s eyes are pressed shut, but there are tears running down his face. His arm around Kaz tightens. “Chase, it’s okay,” he offers. 

“It’s not okay,” Chase snaps back. “It’s not okay for them to keep you out of the loop like this. It’s not okay that you had to find out that way, that it’s making you feel like this. And it’s not okay that you didn’t feel like you could tell me about it.” 

“That’s not it,” Kaz says. “I was going to tell you, babe, I promise. I just...seeing you and Bree and Adam…it’s everything I never had with my siblings. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

“You’re never in the way,” Chase says softly, burying his face in the back of Kaz’s neck. 

“You really aren’t,” Bree agrees. “I know it doesn’t make up for your biological family, Kaz, but I hope you know we consider you part of our family too.” She looks over at Skylar and Oliver. “Same goes for you two.” 

“Totally,” Adam agrees. “We’re all one big happy family and some of us make out with each other.” 

“Shut up Adam,” Bree says affectionately. “You’re ruining the moment.” 

Game night effectively ends after that, but team/family bonding time doesn’t. They sit together on the couch for a while with a basketball game playing on the TV. The others talk softly, but Kaz just cuddles against Chase and scrolls mindlessly through his phone, worn out from the crying and emotional vulnerability. Eventually, Bree and Skylar head off to bed. Oliver gets up after a while to show Adam to the guest room (Adam’s stayed there a lot, but he gets lost easily) and heads to sleep himself. 

Finally, Chase gently guides Kaz to their bedroom. They get ready for bed in a silent, slightly stilted version of their well established routine; they crawl into bed with the lights off, and Chase pulls Kaz firmly into his arms, spooning him protectively. 

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Chase says, softly. “I’m just so fucking sorry.” 

“I’m sorry I had a meltdown and almost killed your brother,” Kaz replies, gripping Chase’s arm with both hands. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

“Don’t apologize,” Chase says, firmly. “You’re okay. We’re okay.” 

“I love you,” Kaz replies. 

“I love you too,” Chase responds instantly. “Do you want to keep talking about this or just go to sleep or…?” 

“I wanna talk about Christmas,” Kaz says, getting sleepy. “Since when are we going to your dad’s?” He flushes, suddenly unsure if he’s included in the conversation. “Uh, not to invite myself--”

“Course you’re invited, dummy,” Chase chides. “I thought it would be nice. We don’t have to. We can stay here, if you want.”

“No,” Kaz says, “No, that sounds nice. I bet you Davenports go all out for Christmas, huh?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Chase says with a soft laugh. Kaz closes his eyes, and relaxes against his boyfriend, and listens to a description of his chosen family’s past Christmases, full of chaos and joy. When he falls asleep, he dreams of trees lit on fire and a stocking with his name on it right between Chase’s and Leo’s. 


End file.
